| id | cleanReleaseDate | troopName | title |
| 1834 | 2008-03-09 | Troop B | ***UPDATE***Rifle Returned to State Police |
| NEWS RELEASE LOUISIANA STATE POLICE COURTESY LOYALTY SERVICE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2008 ***UPDATE*** Rifle Returned to State Police On Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 10:00 AM, Mr. John Johnson (W/M, 51 yrs) of Destrehan, LA walked into the lobby at State Police, Troop B and spoke with the on duty sergeant. Mr. Johnson explained that he was traveling on I-10 eastbound at approximately 6:00PM when he observed the rifle on the roadway. Mr. Johnson further stated that he pulled to the side of the roadway and removed the rifle, because he did want it to cause a crash or end up in “Wrong hands”. Mr. Johnson further advised that he was “Watching the WWL TV news cast at work this morning and saw the story about the rifle.” Mr. Johnson then realized that the weapon he retrieved from the roadway belonged to the State Police. Mr. Johnson then left work and returned the rifle. The Louisiana State Police would like to thank Mr. John Johnson and the media for their assistance with this incident. Stolen State Police Rifle On Saturday, March 8th, 2008 at 6:00 PM a fully marked Louisiana State Police unit was responding to a reckless operator call for service on I-10 eastbound near Power Blvd. As the fully marked State Police unit merged onto I-10 eastbound from Williams Blvd the unit’s trunk lid opened and the trooper’s Semi-Automatic rifle and Louisiana State Police campaign hat ejected onto the lanes of I-10 eastbound. Seconds later the trooper observed his trunk lid open and pulled to the side of the roadway. At the same time a witness who was traveling a few vehicles behind the trooper’s fully marked unit pulled over behind the trooper. The witness advised the trooper that he observed the unit’s trunk open and saw the rifle and the trooper’s hat fall onto the roadway. The witness further advised that a pick-up which was traveling directly in front of him ran over the rifle. He then stated that the pick-up stopped and two unknown males exited the pick-up and removed the rifle from the roadway and fled eastbound on I-10. The trooper and support units returned to the area and searched for the pick-up and the rifle, but neither was located. The rifle has been entered into NCIC as a stolen weapon. Anyone with any information in reference to the rifle should call Troop B @ (504) 471-2775. FOR MORE INFO CONTACT SENIOR TROOPER JOSEPH PIGLIA BY PAGER AT 504-437-6997 OR BY BLACKBERRY or EMAIL AT Joseph.Piglia@dps.la.gov | |||
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